


One In A Million

by Ink_Gypsy



Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: M/M, fffc, prompt fics, writing in new fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-01
Updated: 2017-02-01
Packaged: 2018-09-21 09:03:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9540815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ink_Gypsy/pseuds/Ink_Gypsy
Summary: Sometimes it takes a stranger to make you realize how good you have it.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Something New Challenge at the FFFC comm: Write in a totally new fandom for you.
> 
> This was my first time writing in the Queer As Folk (US) fandom. I was a big fan of the show during its five-year run, and was always fascinated by the relationship between Michael Novotny and his mother, Debbie, who took pride in her gay son to a whole new level, much to his exasperation.

There was no other way to put it. Michael Novotny was embarrassed by his mother. When he saw Debbie Novotny wearing her graphic tee-shirts and vests with buttons featuring every gay symbol from a rainbow flag to a red AIDS ribbon, he wanted to sink down in his booth at the diner and pretend he didn’t know her.

[](https://imgur.com/qZwt1GB)

It wasn’t just the tee-shirts and buttons. It was how loud she was, and how personal she got with his friends. It was fine that she was okay with his being gay, but did she have to act like she was one of the guys? Hell, she talked more about sucking and fucking than they did, and it made him cringe when he saw how uncomfortable it made the diner patrons, even a lot of the gay ones. 

Okay, he didn’t want a mother who was a homophobe, but couldn’t she just tone it down a little? Couldn’t she be more like a regular Mom, one who knew how gay men had sex, but who didn’t humiliate her son by talking about it in such graphic detail where anyone could hear? She was straight, for fuck’s sake. He was the one who was gay, and while he appreciated her support, did she really need to wave the PFLAG banner every minute of every day? It wouldn’t have surprised Michael if his mother came in one morning with **I Love My Gay Son** tattooed across her forehead.

Michael supposed she was just over-compensating. His Uncle Vic, his mother’s brother, was gay, and their father had made his life a living hell because of it. It was possible Debbie was so afraid she’d turn out like her father that she went in the opposite direction and made sure everyone knew that gay was okay in her book.

It might have made a difference if his friends were bothered by it, but to Michael’s chagrin, they didn’t seem to be. Brian Kinney found her amusing, but then he’d known her most of his life, having been Michael’s best friend from the time they were kids. Besides, Brian was never uncomfortable when it came to sex. It was his reason for living. He spent most of his waking hours having sex, and when he wasn’t having it, he was thinking about having it, so he was totally comfortable around Debbie’s sex talk.

Emmett Honeycutt wasn’t bothered by Debbie’s vulgar behavior either, but Emmett rarely found fault with anyone, even those who mocked him for his flamboyant clothes and effeminate manner. Michael decided there wasn’t anything that could embarrass Emmett.

Ted Schmidt was more uptight when it came to Debbie’s bawdy laugh and sexual banter, but he tried not to show it because if Brian was okay with it, he thought he should be, too. Brian’s coolness factor practically commanded that kind of hero-worship. Who knew that better than Michael? Which left him in the minority where his mother was concerned.

It took a stranger to make Michael see things in a different light. He was sitting alone at the counter when he noticed a young guy sitting two stools down from him. New in town, Michael surmised. Sooner or later, every gay man new to Pittsburgh found his way to his Debbie Novotny’s place. Debbie was putting on her usual show, but rather than being disturbed by her behavior, the young man seemed enthralled. Reaching over and tapping Michael on the arm, he pointed at Debbie and asked, “Can you tell me who she is?”

“Debbie Novotny,” Michael replied.

“Do you know her personally?”

“You could say that,” Michael said glumly. “She’s my mother.”

“Really?” the other asked in disbelief. “You’re so lucky.”

“Lucky?” Michael asked incredulously.

“Sure,” the young man said. “Even if I just say the word gay at home, my mother practically hyperventilates, and my father would throw me out if he knew about me. I’d give anything if my Mom accepted me the way yours does you. She’s one in a million.”

“Even with the way she acts?”

“Are you kidding? I’d trade places with you in a minute.”

After he’d left, Michael watched his mother and wondered how he’d feel in the young man’s situation. _The grass wasn’t always greener in the next yard_ , he thought. _Sometimes it was lavender_. 

Maybe he _was_ lucky to have Debbie for a mother, Michael considered. Maybe he should stop acting like such a prick and start being grateful for the family he had. Going behind the counter, he gave Debbie a hug.

“What the hell was that for?” she asked in surprise.

Michael kissed her cheek. “Because you’re one in a million.”


End file.
